L.A. deputy shootings prompt angry response

July 13, 2009 12:00:00 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES --

Civil rights activists want to meet with L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca to discuss a rash of deputy-involved shootings over the past few days.Since Friday, deputies have been involved in four shooting incidents, including one that turned deadly.

The deadly shooting happened Friday night in the Athens area of South L.A. Deputies say they were responding to a report of a man with a gun. They pulled a suspect over fitting the description, but they say he ran off and it appeared he was armed. That's when deputies opened fire, killing him. However witnesses say the suspect, identified as 22-year-old Woodrow Wilson Player III, was unarmed when deputies shot him in the back.

The department has not said how many times Player was shot, or how many deputies fired their weapons.

An internal investigation looking into the shooting is now underway. Local activists are calling for a federal investigation into the incident, as well as a face-to-face meeting with Sheriff Baca.

"Sheriff Baca, we request an urgent meeting with you to discuss and ensure that a thorough investigation will be conducted into the Player killing and that, if department policies on the use of deadly force were violated, punishment will be imposed on the officers," Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote in a letter to Baca.

"We further want to discuss and clarify the sheriff's department's policies, procedures and training on the use of deadly force by sheriff's deputies," said Hutchinson.

So far, there has been no word if Sheriff Baca will meet with the activists.